<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>BLOODMONEY by HyeHowAreYa</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28785990">BLOODMONEY</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/HyeHowAreYa/pseuds/HyeHowAreYa'>HyeHowAreYa</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The After Hours Multiverse [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>LOONA (Korea Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Assassins &amp; Hitmen, Blood and Gore, Child Abuse, Drug Addiction, F/F, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Psychological Horror, Violence, cameos from other Idols - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:47:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>17,497</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28785990</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/HyeHowAreYa/pseuds/HyeHowAreYa</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>People always managed to see good in Hyejoo, even when there was nothing left for them to see.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Park Chaewon | Go Won &amp; Son Hyejoo | Olivia Hye, Park Chaewon | Go Won/Son Hyejoo | Olivia Hye</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The After Hours Multiverse [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2110401</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Survival</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Welcome to After Hours, but better.<br/>This is extremely dark and awful, and I do not apologize for these issues. A lot of stuff in here is meant to be gross, not meant to be hot. Remember that.<br/>I also expect this to flop hard because there is no sex in it.<br/>Don't expect frequent updates either, who knows how long it may be before I update again..<br/>Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hyejoo is rescued by Sooyoung and her crew, who in turn raise her into the perfect killer.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hyejoo clung to the carpet as she spat out blood and one of her teeth, clutching her broken jaw. Her father worked silently so far, only taking the opportunity to degrade and destroy his daughter with his words when she wasn’t already choking on her own teeth.</p><p>“H-Hongseok… I-I think she’s had enough.” Her mother, Mina, said to attempt to calm her husband down. Mina may have been a doormat, a complete enabler of Hyejoo’s abuse, however, she still did care deeply about her baby girl, and couldn’t stand watching her be hurt.</p><p>“Shut up, woman!” He screamed, picking up a vase off the table and throwing it at the wall directly beside her, making Mina jump and fall back, averting her eyes. “She was expelled from her fucking school, bitch.”</p><p>“Yes, but!”</p><p>“Shut up before I kick the shit out of you too.”</p><p>Hyejoo felt hopeless, but suddenly remembered what she held in her pocket. She waiting for the perfect moment to use it, which she was sure, would come soon.</p><p>“Expelled for threatening to rape another kid? You fucking sicko! Who taught you this shit?!”</p><p>Now.</p><p>Now was the time.</p><p>She struggled her way to her feet. “You did! You did this! You did it when you let that guy touch me! You’re the fucking sicko.” She screamed as loudly as she could muster, her jaw hurting her so badly she wanted to just collapse again, but now was certainly not time to do that.</p><p>“What the fuck did you just say?! You think you can talk back to me?!” He screamed back, expecting Hyejoo to instinctually cower back, but she didn’t. “No. You listen to me now.”</p><p>“I do not have to hear what a kid thinks…” He trailed off when she shoved the knife from her pocket in his stomach. “TELL ME YOU’RE FUCKING SORRY!! BEG ME FOR MERCY THAT I WON’T GIVE!” She screamed, twisting the knife around inside him. He simply fell to his knees, blood leaking from his mouth. “WHAT DID I JUST SAY!?”</p><p>She kicked him over so he’d lay on his back. “You didn’t love me. You never did.”</p><p>“Nothing I can do, will ever equate to what you put me through. You’re fucking lucky!” She said, stomping on his nose, realizing that wouldn’t garner enough impact to hurt him, so she jumped and landed with both feet on his face, crushing his nose into millions of pieces.</p><p>She then walked back a little, clutching the bloody knife in her small hands. She knelt down beside her father. “M-my baby… why are you doing this to daddy?” He asked, tears pooling in his eyes.</p><p>“You are not my dad, and I am certainly not yours.” She said, garnering the final blow to his chest to suddenly let the life fade from his eyes.</p><p>She then turned to Mina who looked utterly horrified, sobbing uncontrollably. “You have no right to cry,” Hyejoo said angrily. “You have no fucking right!” She yelled, slapping her mother across the face. “B-baby… we gotta call the police… have to get this sorted out.”</p><p>“You’ll call the cops on me?! But not him?!” Hyejoo said, snatching her mother’s cellphone and hurling it at the wall, just so it could shatter. “You let him do this to me! This is all your fault! You fucking failure, worthless piece of human garbage!”</p><p>“H-Hye… I’m sorry… P-please don’t hurt me, baby.”</p><p>“Don’t hurt you!? You think you deserve that?”</p><p>Hyejoo’s eyes filled with tears, still for some reason, having love in her heart for Mina. “H-how could you do this, mommy…? How could you just stand there…? Why didn’t you help?” Hyejoo said, finally breaking down and falling to her knees in a crying fit. She promptly dropped the knife to the floor.</p><p>“Do you even love me at all? W-why was I never good enough for you?” Hyejoo cried. “I’m sorry, baby, I really am.” Mina tried to comfort, wrapping her arms around Hyejoo. “Don’t touch me!” Hyejoo screamed, wrapping her tiny hands around her mother’s throat, squeezing with all of her might.</p><p>“Hyejoo!” Mina cried, trying to pry her daughter’s fingers from her throat, but to no avail. Hyejoo was too angry to be calmed down, she was on a path of destruction that could not be stopped.</p><p>Hyejoo squeezed and squeezed, ignoring her mother’s hoarse cries and screams. “WHY DON’T YOU LOVE ME?” Hyejoo cried bitterly, always feeling inadequate, feeling as if no one would ever love nor respect her, especially after she’d shown the world what a monster she truly was.</p><p>“I-I love you… baby girl, a-and I always will.” Mina croaked, sadly knowing those would likely be her last words as her neck was crushed and the air in her lungs stopped coming.</p><p>As soon as her mother began to be unresponsive, Hyejoo frantically shook her. “M-Mommy! I didn’t mean it! Wake up! Wake up! Please!!” She cried but stopped at a dead silence hearing a window downstairs break.</p><p>She gasped, that must be the police coming to take her away. It had to have been. She grabbed her pillow off her bed and did the only thing she could think to do. That was, to squeeze herself under her bed and hide, pretending not to exist.</p><p>She quieted her breathing and crying the best she could, trying to muffle herself with the pillow when she heard the pair of footsteps coming up the stairs.</p><p>“Jesus fucking Christ!” a deep female voice exclaimed. “You didn’t expect this?” A higher one said. “No… it’s just crazy, isn’t she like… a kid?”</p><p>They were talking about her. They had come for her. She was going to prison, she was sure of it.</p><p>“So… where is she?”</p><p>“Check everywhere in this room, then we move to other rooms, we kept surveillance, unless this kid is a little mastermind, then we know she’s in this house.”</p><p>She saw two pairs of matching leather boots walk around the room, but her eyes went wide when one of the pairs of boots stopped right before the bed. So, she chocked down her sobs and hid her face behind the pillow.</p><p>“It’s okay, kiddo, you can come out.”</p><p>A friendly looking face with florescent purple hair called out to her as Hyejoo hid under the bed, too scared to move. “You don’t need to hide, we’re here to save you.” Hyejoo didn’t trust that for a second. She clutched her pillow to her chest, trying to hide her sobs so somehow the woman who found her would go away.</p><p>“Come on, it’s okay, we won’t hurt you.” Liar. Nobody could possibly be trusted; she’d learned that the hard way. “She’s a little girl, just grab her if she won’t come out.”  Said the significantly deeper and rougher voice than the voice of the woman in front of her. “Really? I don’t want to.” The woman facing Hyejoo answered.</p><p>“Haven’t you seen her? She’s tiny. Grab her, Yerimmie.” The girl with black hair said. “I don’t want to scare her.”</p><p>“Who cares? She’ll die if we don’t.” ‘Yerimmie’ sighed, and reached towards the quivering girl under the bed, and grabbing her wrist. Hyejoo struggled to not be torn from her safe hiding spot, screaming and crying the whole way through. She looked for anything to grab, to avoid being taken, but was unsuccessful.</p><p>Eventually, the woman managed to pry her from under the bed, even if Hyejoo kicked and thrashed violently, the woman was too strong. “Shh. Kiddo, I told you, it’s okay, we’re here to help. We’re gonna get you out of here, and we’ll protect you from any trouble your actions tonight may get you in.”</p><p>The other girl, the other one with sleek black hair, looked on in awe of the child’s attempts to free herself from the grasp of the purple-haired girl. Only twelve years old, and was already so strong. “Hide the bodies, we don’t need her to see them.” The woman holding Hyejoo said. “She made those bodies.” The girl with the black hair said. “My point exactly.”</p><p>The intruder in her home set Hyejoo down on top of her bed, “Here, kiddo, grab some blankets, it’s gonna be a long car ride.” Hyejoo didn’t respond but grabbed the comforter from her bed, and the pillow from underneath her bed where she left it. “Let me wrap you up,”</p><p>Hyejoo didn’t see any other option other than to just submit to whatever the intruders planned to do. Since she suspected they were police, who planned to take her to jail for what she did. So, she obeyed, forgetting all of her previous fight from earlier, and just growing limp as she sobbed.</p><p>It hadn’t even been half an hour since she’d taken the knife to her own father’s heart, and then the strangling of her mother. She didn’t know why she turned her aggression to her mother; her mother was as much of a victim of her father’s abuse as she was. She missed her mom now, which the biggest reason for her tears.</p><p>“Mommy!” Hyejoo yelled, standing up and pushing the woman aside to stop the girl with black hair from removing her mother from the room. The purple-haired girl looked at Hyejoo curiously. “She’s… She’s dead, sweetie.” She responded, feeling a pang of remorse for the little girl before her. “B-but!” Hyejoo tried to reason before she was scooped up and wrapped in a blanket.</p><p>“Don’t look over there, kiddo. It’s over, you did it, they can’t hurt you anymore.” The woman comforted whilst observing Hyejoo’s face, she could see the bruises and a swollen lip left as remnants of previous beatings she had endured. “You’re safe with me.”</p><p>“I’m Yerim, and our people are gonna take care of you now.” The woman said, sitting down on the bed, clutching Hyejoo close to her while she stroked her black hair. “Here is what’s gonna happen, since I assume you don’t like surprises.” Yerim paused. “You’re gonna come back to our place, we’ll let you sleep in a guest room for the night, and then you will meet our leader Sooyoung. If your talk with Sooyoung goes well, you’ll be living with us permanently.”</p><p>Hyejoo sniffled, her crying slowing down slightly. “We’ll keep you safe, I promise,” Yerim said “Now we’re gonna get you out of here, we’re gonna get you to a hospital kiddo.”</p><p>xxx</p><p>"I’ve heard you've been quite the trouble maker around these parts, haven't you?"</p><p>Hyejoo blinked at Sooyoung, who had a red dress shirt laying neatly across her body. “I know a lot about you, we’ve been following you for some time now. But there are some things I don’t know, and I’d like to, so I'm gonna ask you some questions my dear, you're gonna answer them unless you think ending up locked away this young is a good plan."</p><p>Sooyoung ominously circled around the table in the dark room. To Hyejoo, the room looked awfully like a questioning room with the light bulb hanging down over the table. “I’m not telling you shit.” Sooyoung merely chuckled. “Sure, but I’ll let you know you are in no position to do. You’re a little girl, you don’t have any family left, and if you don’t tell me what I need to know, I’m gonna have to shoot you before they can get to you, I have the feeling you’re a snitch.”</p><p>“Shoot me,” Hyejoo growled, just to be immediately ignored by Sooyoung. “I have many records from your days in school, many absences, but even more notes and records of your less than stellar behavior. Some of it seems rather… serious.”</p><p>“Are you seriously here to ridicule me for being a bad kid?”</p><p>“Well, no, you aren’t a bad kid, this isn’t your fault.”</p><p>“How the fuck is it not…”</p><p>“I’ll get to that. Did you enjoy harassing your classmates?” Sooyoung asked curiously. “Sure,”</p><p>“The worse the better?”</p><p>“I guess,”</p><p>“Why did you miss so much school, Miss Son?”</p><p>“Why are you asking me this? And DO NOT call me by my last name, I will not be associated with… with…” Hyejoo said, sniffling slightly. “Your family. Yes, I know, as I said, I’ll get to that.”</p><p>“I-I missed because I was injured,”</p><p>“Yes. Did you ever skip?”</p><p>“No,” Hyejoo replied simply. “Why?” Sooyoung asked, scribbling a couple of things down in her notes. “I didn’t want to face the consequences, if I was going to do something that’d get me in trouble I’d at least do something I’d benefit from more than skipping.”</p><p>Sooyoung raised one eyebrow. “That being?” Hyejoo gestured to the papers. “That stuff.”</p><p>“Yes, the threatens of mutation, murder, beatings, and rape, that you never quite acted on, now did you?”</p><p>“No, I didn’t.”</p><p>“Why was that?” Sooyoung continued to question, biting the tip of her pen. “It still felt like some kind of fantasy, something I’d do someday, but not yet. I guess I still felt like a good person.”</p><p>“You felt? Do you not anymore?” Asked Sooyoung. “I’m a terrible person.” “When do you think you changed.”</p><p>“When I killed them. Especially my mother.”</p><p>“Yes, your parents, do you regret it?”</p><p>“I… I don’t know.” Hyejoo said, frantically looking for a place to hide her face so Sooyoung couldn’t see her cry. Sooyoung sat down, resting her elbows on the table. “Why did you do that, Hyejoo. Were they really that bad?” Hyejoo sighed, wiping away a tear with the dirty sleeve of her hoodie. “I couldn’t take it anymore, I felt it was the only thing standing in the way between me and peace.”</p><p>“What is peace?”</p><p>“Death,”</p><p>“Oh… Yes, that. Suicidal actions and self-harm have also made common appearances on your records. I’m assuming you spent your fair share with the school counselor.” Sooyoung said, checking her notes and papers. “Yes, he noted all of my behavior as ‘desperate cries for attention’,” Hyejoo grumbled. “Were they?”</p><p>“It was at first, then suddenly, I didn’t care if anyone was around, or if anyone saw.”</p><p>“Oh, what did it feel like?”</p><p>“Freeing. Not only was I punishing myself for these violent thoughts and actions, but I felt amazing watching someone bleed, even if it was myself.” Hyejoo admitted.</p><p>“What made you stop being afraid of me?” Sooyoung asked in reference to the day she first scooped Hyejoo out of that and took her in, letting her sleep in one of the small guest rooms while she waited for Hyejoo to be able to be questioned.</p><p>“Whoever said I stopped?” Hyejoo said, with a laugh, trying to cover up her anxiousness. “Well… What made you stop acting so skittish and meek? If that’s a better way to put it.”</p><p>“I don’t know, you act nothing like them. Mannerisms, words, even certain glances, you just seem different altogether.” Sooyoung scribbled in her journal. “Those tiny things trigger something? What, exactly?”</p><p>“Pill-bug syndrome.” Sooyoung smiled, “I’ve seen that… you act like a pill-bug like how they curl up to defend themselves?” She asked. “Yes, like that,” Hyejoo responded. “That’s a good term, I think I’ll use that… Sadly, I fear you’d rip my head off if I called you a roly-poly.” Sooyoung told Hyejoo cautiously. “Certainly.”</p><p>Sooyoung paused asking Hyejoo the questions for a bit, reviewing her notes, and knowing now was likely to time to cut to the chase. “Do you enjoy the idea of killing?”</p><p>Hyejoo looked at Sooyoung curiously. “Why do you ask?” She said cautiously, unsure of Sooyoung’s motives. “Answer and I’ll tell you,” Sooyoung said.</p><p>“Yes, I enjoyed it when I did, but I don’t know how keen I am to do it again,” Hyejoo said, fiddling with her fingers nervously. “Well, that’s a shame… Because I think you’d be a perfect fit for my team.”</p><p>“What’s that?”</p><p>“My team consists of three this very moment, girls who I’ve trained to be excellent in combat. These girls are very much like you, they’ve had similar difficulties, although, not to make you feel bad, but your case is rather special.”</p><p>“Alright… What happens if I don’t?” Hyejoo asked warily. “Good question. I don’t want to, but I’d have to let you fend for yourself then…” Hyejoo frowned. “Yeah, I should have seen that coming. S-so… I have to? I don’t really have a choice, do I?” Hyejoo said, looking down at her lap.</p><p>The realization of what she’d have to do hit her like a ten-ton truck, she’d have to bury even more guilt for lives she’ll inevitably end. “H-Hey… I can give you time to think.” Sooyoung said, attempting to soothe the young girl. “Think about what?! There is no other option!” Hyejoo yelled, resting her head down on the table.</p><p>“I’m sorry, sweetie.” Sooyoung said, moving to lay a hand on Hyejoo’s shoulder just to be immediately rejected. “Don’t touch me! Are you insane?” Sooyoung sighed, as Hyejoo recoiled from the touch, standing up and moving away from Sooyoung.</p><p>“I’m sorry, I know of your boundaries,” Sooyoung said, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. “Do you?” Hyejoo asked, glaring at Sooyoung. “Look, kid, I’m not great with children, especially you know… little crazy ones like you. But I really don’t want to do this, this is just a help me help you kinda situation, you know?”</p><p>“You could help me for free!”</p><p>“No, no, no, if there is one thing I’ve learned, I ain’t doin’ shit for free. I can give you all the help you need, but you gotta help me too.”</p><p>“You’re selfish! That’s what you are!” Hyejoo yelled, hitting Sooyoung’s shoulder with the side of her fist. “You seriously can’t help me?! You don’t care about me! You want me to sacrifice my entire well-being for you!” Sooyoung just stared in bewilderment at the young girl’s actions.</p><p>But now, she was more confident than ever that Hyejoo would be a good fit around here. “Hey, kid, calm down,” Sooyoung said, nervously laughing at Hyejoo’s weak attempts to harm her. “Don’t tell me to calm down! You’re so fucking selfish! You… You…” As soon as she saw Hyejoo begin to break down she wrapped her up in a hug. “I-I’m so sorry…” Hyejoo sobbed, wrapping her tiny arms around Sooyoung’s waist. “You aren’t mad, are you?”</p><p>“No, not at all. I can’t blame you one bit.” Sooyoung said, stroking Hyejoo’s hair, and holding her small body close. “And don’t you worry, you’ll be training for a long time, the job won’t start for many years, I’ll have you know.”</p><p>Hyejoo squeezed Sooyoung, scared that if she let go, she’d be transported back in time. For once in her life, she felt that she finally found someone to trust, even if it may be a mistake. “Tell you what…” Sooyoung started, bending down to Hyejoo’s level. “How does dinosaur chicken nuggets and ice cream for dinner sound?”</p><p>“I’m not a kid, Sooyoung.” Sooyoung snickered, “It don’t matter, my girls are adults and you bet they love my dinosaur chicken nuggets. A child, a drunk adult, what’s the difference?” Hyejoo smiled. “You have ranch?”</p><p>“You eat ranch on your chicken nuggets? Jesus, you ARE crazy.” They both laughed, separating slightly. “Hey, kid, you know, you’re awful strong for a little girl.”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Yeah, by the time you’re full-grown you’ll be unstoppable, and honestly, I’m a little scared. I better do what I can to make sure I stay on your good side, kiddo.”</p><p>“Just don’t be a dipshit,”</p><p>“I’d like to think I got that going for me.”</p><p>Sooyoung grabbed Hyejoo’s hand as she stood, leading her back to the guest room not so far from Sooyoung’s office where the originated, which was tucked down a long hallway on the first floor. From what Hyejoo had seen, Sooyoung’s house was a giant mansion; almost too big to comprehend. She wondered where Sooyoung got all of this money, but dared not inquire on the subject.</p><p>“Gather your belongings from this room, I’m gonna move you upstairs to a better bedroom. You can get cleaned up, and then you can join everybody for dinner.” Hyejoo nodded, letting go of Sooyoung’s hand as she grabbed her blue and black comforter and her pillow, the dark colors in stark contrast to the clean whites of the rest of the house.</p><p>Sooyoung walked Hyejoo to the main room, a grand room with a tall ceiling and a chandelier that had two staircases and two hallways at each end. The grand staircases twisted slightly on either side, leading right to another pair of hallways symmetrical to the one’s downstairs. Sooyoung lead Hyejoo up the right-side staircase, and down the hallway a bit, before opening the door.</p><p>“This is your room, kiddo,” Sooyoung said, as Hyejoo examined it. It felt so odd to live somewhere this extravagant. Her parents certainly weren’t poor, but this whole house was outside of Hyejoo’s grasp mentally.</p><p>Just like the other rooms, plain white walls, with clean white tiles, tall white curtains covering the windows that made up for the wall in front of them, and a huge bed that just had two pillows as other than that, was just a plain mattress with sheets. It looked eerily like a giant hotel room.</p><p>“It’s pretty empty, but we can fill it with stuff as you get older. If you don’t mind, I have to go start cooking. That’s the bathroom, it should have everything you need in there. If you have any injuries, tell me, alright? I’ll see what our nurse Kahei can do.”</p><p>“Thanks,” Hyejoo said, still bewildered but the room in front of her. She guessed she’d start readying herself, for a new lifestyle she could have never even comprehended before. She, Son Hyejoo, was going to kill people for a living? That’s insane. But it was apparent, the world hated Hyejoo, and the feeling was mutual.</p><p>xxx</p><p>“An evil little girl, aren’t you?</p><p>Behind such a pretty little face hides an ugly monster, a devil, that’s just begging to be freed.</p><p>Tell me, darling, you like gore? Do you like watching others suffer?</p><p>Don’t tell me you don’t, I know you do.</p><p>Daddy hit you, so you kill him, and your mother?</p><p>After all that, you can’t tell me you don’t like killing; however, you can tell me how you just <em>love</em> it.”</p><p>“Who are you again?” Hyejoo asked, with a smirk. She’d been taught not to show weakness, not to let a potential opponent’s words cut her.</p><p>“I’m Jo Haseul, I own this building, and <em>everyone</em> in it.”</p><p>“What about Sooyoung?”</p><p>“Ahh… Of course, she didn’t tell you about me. Sooyoung, Sooyoung, high and mighty, ruler over all the land. But no, she’s nothing but an employee of mine. And she told me, you may be a new recruit.”</p><p>“Right.”</p><p>“Have you trained yet?”</p><p>“Plenty.”</p><p>Haseul smiled, clearly amused. “Mind showing me?”</p><p>“How so?”</p><p>“Stand, darling, and walk with me.”</p><p>Hyejoo followed Haseul without a second thought. “This will be your first real training session. That is… assuming Sooyoung hasn’t had you actually kill someone yet.” Haseul said nonchalantly.</p><p>“No, she hasn’t.” Haseul stepped out of Sooyoung’s office, and worked her way down to the basement, before heading up to an elevator door. “Has Sooyoung ever shown you this room?”</p><p>“No… What is it?”</p><p>“You’ll see, my darling.”</p><p>Hyejoo cringed, she loathed being referred to as someone else’s, that was something her father did, and there was not a single man, woman, or child on God’s green earth she despised more than her father.</p><p>“I’m not yours,” Hyejoo growled, to which Haseul glared at her.</p><p>“I’m one of the most powerful women on earth and you work up the courage to back-talk me?” Haseul said as her face fell, and she grabbed Hyejoo by the collar, leaving the younger girl to whimper and recoil back. Hyejoo shut her eyes, instinct preparing her for some type of hit, but by the time she opened her eyes, Haseul was smiling again.</p><p>“You’re a stupid cunt… but I like you. Perfect amount of spunk and personality, and from what I’ve been told, you’re plain mad. Can’t wait to see you in action.” Haseul praised, letting go of Hyejoo and stepping in the elevator once it opened.</p><p>“Come, come… Your faction is waiting for you.”</p><p>Hyejoo stayed silent as she stepped into the elevator, far too afraid to accidentally say something wrong again.</p><p>“Are you ready to show me how sick you truly are? With that stupid courage of yours, you must be truly fucked up.”</p><p>“I’m not as courageous as you think I am.”</p><p>“Did you not free yourself from an inevitable cycle of abuse as a child?”</p><p>“Yes, but I’m still weak. I can’t even garner the courage to finally pull the trigger.”</p><p>“You can’t shoot people? That’s not what Sooyoung said.”</p><p>“No, I can’t shoot myself,” Hyejoo said as if it were a light-hearted joke.</p><p>Haseul looked at Hyejoo, “Oh… You want to?...”</p><p>The elevator dinged, and Hyejoo stepped off, joining the rest of her housemates without a look back. Yerim gave Hyejoo a comforting smile, attempting to take her hand. “Not in the mood.” Hyejoo simply replied, ripping her hand out of Yerim’s reach.</p><p>“Ladies.” Haseul addressed, garnering the attention of Sooyoung and her followers. “This is the final test to see if a Ms. Son Hyejoo has what it takes to one of us.”</p><p>“That’s you.” Heejin joked, nudging Hyejoo with her elbow. “Go to hell, both of you,” Hyejoo said to the sisters Heejin and Yerim.</p><p>“Come up here with me, <em>my</em> darling.” Haseul smirked at her strategic use of the word “my”, remembering their early discussion, and hoping to provoke an already angry Hyejoo into committing some brutal crimes tonight.</p><p>Hyejoo huffed and joined Haseul. “Make me proud.”</p><p>Haseul lead Hyejoo to yet another room down a dark long hallway. “This is the place, there are countless weapons to use on the wall furthest to your right. I’ll leave you alone now. Do me a favor, don’t make it quick, Hyejoo.”</p><p>Hyejoo nodded, letting Hyejoo open the door for her. A man sat tied to a chair in the corner of the room. “Brought this cutie to torture me?” The man asked Haseul. “No, I brought her to kill you. I’ve gotten all I need from you.”</p><p>The man licked his lips. “Splendid.” He said, scanning Hyejoo up and down. Haseul left and closed the door behind Hyejoo. “How did you get here? You seem a little young for this job.”</p><p>“None of your fucking business,” Hyejoo growled. “Oh! She’s sassy. Don’t worry, I like them sassy… Better yet, I like em’ young.”</p><p>Hyejoo squinted at the man, feeling a bit sick. “Bite your tongue.”</p><p>“Do it yourself.”</p><p>Hyejoo scowled. “Fine then.”</p><p>“I was planning on shooting you…” Hyejoo began.</p><p>“But I don’t think that’ll do it anymore.”</p><p>“Goodie-“ His belittling statement was cut short when he watched Hyejoo grab the bat off the wall. He gulped down his momentary fear. “Well, girlie. If you like handling big sticks…” He was yet again interrupted by the bat smashing into his head.</p><p>He screamed in pain, as the blow knocked over the chair he was in too. “Should have kept quiet, you disgusting piece of shit,” Hyejoo growled. “Oh, why? Can’t a man have a little fun before his eventual death? I mean… I was expecting some entertainment...”</p><p>“Because yes, you’ll die eventually… But I’m breaking every bone in your fucking body before you do.” Hyejoo said, swinging again, this time, aiming for his knee.</p><p>She continued to beat the man senseless with the bat while he screamed until the chair, the bat, had splintered, and the man, was nothing but a heap of blood and limbs, just how she liked she liked her men.</p><p>She grabbed her knife from its holster, and once again, admired the little bits of bone sticking from the disfigured body of her victim. “Still wanna get in my pants, cocksucker?” She spat.</p><p>His eyes met hers, but he said nothing. “You know… I think I might as well take something to remember this moment by.” She said, taking the knife and grabbing his bloody crushed hand and forcing her blade through his middle finger, spraying crimson all over the place. Once it was loose, only hanging on by a bit of flesh, she ripped it straight from his hand.</p><p>“M-mercy…” He said hoarsely, daring to let tears fall from his eyes. She took the gun from its respective slot in her belt. “This is me being merciful.” She said, cocking the gun, and splattering his brains out on the tile floor.</p><p>She dropped the severed finger in the pile of bloody flesh and hastily walked from the room. “Hyejoo! Did you do it…” Sooyoung began to cheer, before seeing the blood splattered all over Hyejoo’s front, and the solemn expression on her face.</p><p>Hyejoo looked around the room, a confused Heejin and Yerim, an excited Haseul, and a shocked Sooyoung. Hyejoo nodded, looking down at her bloody hands, as tears dropped on them washing away streaks of blood from her hands. Hyejoo only now came to the realization of what she’d just done.</p><p> “I’m a terrible person.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Saccharine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Heejin, Yerim, and Hyejoo have to complete a mission to assassinate Ms. Yoo, in which Hyejoo meets a scared blonde girl hiding in a motel room.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey there, big boy…” A woman spoke to a man that sat at the bar, a man who had been along with his wife, a long-time associate of Heo Solji’s. Heo Solji was a high-level mafia boss, a body count of many at this point, all without getting her hands bloody, she was known to be a rival of Haseul’s.</p><p>Heejin set her elbows on the bar next to the man, who began to question what a girl so pretty wanted of him. “Buy me a drink, I’ll give you a kiss.” Heejin said with a wink, flashing that million-dollar smile at him. The man chuckled, “Is that so?” he asked.</p><p>“Maybe throw in one for my sister over there,” Heejin said, signaling Yerim over. “Actually… I was thinking maybe us three could go back to your motel room.” Yerim said, winking at Heejin, who understood, smirking at their little secret.</p><p>“Good idea, princess.” The man said, immediately standing and leading the two women back to his motel room. “Girls… How did you know about me staying here?” He asked, as he fetched his keys from his pocket. “Intuition,” Heejin said, playfully pushing his back to get him in the room.</p><p>“So… You ever fuck two sisters?” Yerim asked, with a smirk on her face, unable to keep herself from laughing. “Not two hot ones.”</p><p>“Well then today is your lucky day.” Heejin said, walking over to him and pushing him over onto the bed, rubbing her hands up his chest. She smiled, knowing he was just a toy for their wicked games… “Where is your wife, Mr.?”</p><p>“She’s at the casino, I’ll make sure we wrap it up by the time she gets back.” Heejin giggled, “I hope so too. I hear she’s a rather dangerous woman.”</p><p>The man raised one eyebrow. “You know of her?” “I know all about her, and you, and your affiliations. I’m a smart girl.” He sat up, realizing the danger he was in. “Yerim, now!” Yerim got the gun from her belt she’d hidden, and shot him in the chest. “Call Hyejoo, I’ll hide behind the door and wait for Mrs. Yoo.”</p><p>“Gotcha.” Heejin said, “Don’t bother cleaning the body.”</p><p>Heejin grabbed her cell phone. “Ayy… Big bad wolf, we killed Mr. Yoo, just waiting for the wife.”</p><p> “Don’t call me that… And it’s about time, what were you doing in that room, Jeon?” Hyejoo asked, hiding in the back of their van, ready to help if need be, since her training had concluded and she was fully grown. “Having a little fun…”</p><p>“You’re gross.”</p><p>“At least I don’t beat people to death like a certain colleague of mine.”</p><p> “That was ONE TIME, plus that guy was a pedo anyway, had it coming.”</p><p>“Oh really? Icky…”</p><p>“Just go find that bitch so we can kill her already”</p><p>“Alright, big bad wolf, don’t growl at me, I know what I’m do—" The conversation concluded when Hyejoo hung up on the other end, to which Heejin rolled her eyes.</p><p>Yerim and went out of the motel room, leaving Heejin there behind the door, waiting in anticipation. Yerim saw Yoo Jeongyeon, one of Solji’s higher-level employees, sitting in her car. Yerim rushed to the van Hyejoo was sitting in, and threw open the door. “Check for witnesses, Wolfy. Kill everyone in the surrounding area. You can pick locks, check the surrounding motel rooms that aren’t vacant.”</p><p>Hyejoo nodded, handing Yerim her skull mask, and putting on her own mask, hiding her identity from any possible onlookers. She checked her belt for all of her necessary items and weapons, before speeding off to go check all of the rooms.</p><p>Yerim put her mask on, watching Jeongyeon enter the motel room, visibly confused why it was unlocked. Yerim ran up the stairs as soon as she saw Heejin grab her. Jeongyeon’s neck was trapped in Heejin’s arm, as she choked her from behind. Yerim giggled. “Can’t even scream for help… because you’re a criminal too.” Yerim said amusedly.  </p><p>“Don’t worry, we’ll make this quick, assuming you pass out soon enough.” Yerim informed, checking to make sure the door was closed. “We have all the info on Heo Solji we need, we just wanted to send a message to her and all of her affiliates, we are not to be fucked with… Hopefully they get the memo.”</p><p>“M-My people will come for you!” Jeongyeon yelled, “Sure they will. But my people are stronger than yours. Give up Ms. Yoo, you’re hopeless.”</p><p>Heejin squeezed Jeongyeon’s neck with all of her strength, forcing her down to her knees. “Oh… Poor baby.” Yerim sighed, putting her hand over Jeongyeon’s mouth and clamping her nose shut with the other.</p><p>Jeongyeon’s eyes went wide when the air stopped coming to her lungs, she frantically clawed Heejin’s arms until she inevitably passed out. Heejin let her go, watching her collapse to the floor. Heejin stood, “I got the last one, you do the honors.” Yerim said.</p><p>Heejin grabbed her gun from her belt, and shot Jeongyeon in the head, splattering the surrounding area with blood.</p><p>xxx</p><p>Hyejoo ran from motel room to motel room, finding nearly all of them empty. That was until, as luck would have it, the last room on her checklist finally housed a human. It took the small blonde girl a second to understand what was happening before she screamed.</p><p>“Hey, hey, keep it down… I’m not here to hurt you, I’m just here to make sure you don’t end up being a part of the shit going on upstairs… Okay?” Hyejoo comforted.</p><p>“Wh-what are you doing here?!” The blonde asked, terrified for her life as she watched the intruder’s every move. “I just told you. Listen, if you do everything I say, you’ll get out of here without a scratch on your body, alright? And if you don’t, some of my friends may have a problem with that.”</p><p>“O-okay…” The blonde jumped and screamed again when she heard another scream from upstairs. “Shhh… Listen, those were bad people… well, so are we. But we don’t go around killing innocent people as long as they haven’t witnessed anything. So, do me a favor and come here.”</p><p>The blonde stood on shaky legs, wobbling all the way to Hyejoo. “Turn around and give me your wrists.” The girl did as told, tears falling freely down her face now as the intruder handcuffed her. “I don’t really wanna do this either, but it’s protocol,” Hyejoo said softly.</p><p>“Now sit tight, this’ll be over in no time.” Hyejoo began to soothe before her phone rang. “Ugh… this again.” Hyejoo complained, answering the phone call. “I haven’t heard any gunshots, Wolfy, your orders were to kill everybody in the building.”</p><p>Hyejoo sighed, “Yeah… I’ll get right on that.”</p><p>“Good.” Yerim said on the other line before hanging up.</p><p>The blonde looked up in horror, beginning to panic, hearing the conversation on the phone. Hyejoo sat and stared, not knowing what to do. “Uh… I-I really don’t want to do that.” Hyejoo said, rubbing the back of her neck.</p><p>“Uhhh… Don’t worry. I’ll-uh.. I’ll just deal with it. As long as you swear not to tell anyone about anything tonight, not that you have much to say.”</p><p>“Y-you’d save me?”</p><p>“I’m supposed to be following orders… So, I’m doing you one hell of a solid, you better do me one in return.”</p><p>“L-like what?” The blonde said, terrified about what this random criminal wanted of her. “J-just please don’t tell me you want…”</p><p>“Oh god no! Do seriously take me for a rapist?” Hyejoo asked, clearly offended by the accusation. “I-I guess not…”</p><p>“Just come here.” Hyejoo said whilst grabbing the blonde’s arm. “Grab what you need,” Hyejoo said, taking the handcuffs off of the girl. “They’re cleaning up the bodies downstairs, so they’ll be busy for a while.”</p><p>The blonde grabbed her purse and put on her shoes. “Ready?” Hyejoo asked. “Yes… th-thank you.”</p><p>Hyejoo smiled. “You’re pretty. What’s your name?” Hyejoo asked. “Chaewon, yours?”</p><p>“Confidential.”</p><p>“Come onnn! You scared me half to death! You can at least tell me your name.”</p><p>“Keep your voice down, I don’t want them to hear you. And… My name is Hyejoo, just don’t go spreading that around, I will find you, and I WILL NOT be nice that time.”</p><p>Chaewon nervously laughed. “You’re probably pretty too…”</p><p>“Okay.” Hyejoo said matter-of-factly, not bothering to thank Chaewon.</p><p>“That’s a weird response…”</p><p>“Yeah, I know. I just… I don’t know. I don’t like being looked at fondly, I don’t feel after all I’ve done I deserve to be looked at in a fond manner.” Hyejoo said, stopping once they got to the back of the building, away from anyone who could watch them or listen in.</p><p>“Oh. I get it, but you saved me, you did something good. Now, take the mask off, I wanna see my knight in shining armor.”</p><p>Hyejoo scoffed. “You’re crazy.”</p><p>“I know. Now show me, especially since I got your naaamee! I can’t tell everyone!” Chaewon sang gleefully, mocking Hyejoo as she scowled. “You wouldn’t,” Hyejoo said, moving her floor-length leather coat to the side, showing her belt filled with assorted weapons.</p><p>“You wouldn’t hurt me, you said so. Now come on!”</p><p>“I said I wouldn’t hurt you if you listened, but you aren’t listening.”</p><p>“I don’t like hearing no.”</p><p>“Trust me, neither do I. And I’m a lot more dangerous than you are, cotton ball.”</p><p>“Stop acting so bad… Do you hear your voice? You don’t sound threatening at all!”</p><p>“I’m trying to be nice, Chaewon.”</p><p>“Pleeeaaase!” Chaewon begged.</p><p>“I’m sorry, I’m not here to entertain you, I was supposed to kill you, but you were too cute, however, now you’re looking a lot less cute and a lot more annoying, don’t make me reconsider.”</p><p>Chaewon sighed, “Okay… Goodbye, my night in shining armor.” Chaewon said, turning and walking away solemnly.</p><p>Hyejoo looked at the ground and thought for a moment. “Hey, wait…” Hyejoo spoke, waiting for Chaewon to turn around, to remove her mask.</p><p>Chaewon smiled, her heart rate picking up. “It’s a god damn shame you don’t like compliments,” Chaewon said. “Do I still look like a rapist?” Hyejoo asked with a laugh, fixing the hair that’d been disheveled by the mask. “Meh… You look like you could be super sick and rotten on the inside, but I doubt it.”</p><p>“I wouldn’t doubt it if I were you, I didn’t get this job by being a goodie two shoes.”</p><p>“Yeah, how did you get this job? You seem like you should be a regular teenager working at a grocery store or something.”</p><p>“You’re funny, Chae. I guess it’s because I wasn’t raised to be a regular teenager, to say the least.”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“My people are probably looking for me. I should go.” Hyejoo said, avoiding the question.</p><p>“Oh… Okay… Will I see you again?”</p><p>“For your sake, I hope not.”</p><p>xxx</p><p>Chaewon dwelled on that encounter more than she’d like. That girl had a haunting look in her eyes, she was terrifying, but so beautiful. She didn’t belong with those people, she belonged in normal society, little did Chaewon know of the full situation.</p><p>xxx</p><p>“I’m no hero.” Hyejoo scoffed to herself, viewing her own face in the mirror. “I’m sick and disgusting just like everybody else on this fuckin’ planet.”</p><p>That girl seemed nearly as crazy and Hyejoo really was, just in Chaewon’s case, she didn’t bother trying to hide it around others. “I’m no hero. I’m the villain.”</p><p>Hyejoo chuckled to herself. “Blondes really are stupid, huh?”</p><p>“What blonde?” A voice asked from the doorway. “Oh, hi, Jiwoo. It’s nothing…”</p><p>“How’s being a murderer?” Jiwoo asked, with a cheeky grin.</p><p>“Good, how’s being a whore?”</p><p>“Could be better,”</p><p>“Don’t worry, Sooyoung hates feelings, for all you know, this is her showing them to you.”</p><p>For background. Jiwoo lived with them to be Sooyoung’s personal assistant for… questionable deeds. However, while garnering the disrespect of everyone in the household, she was able to find one true friend, and that was Hyejoo.</p><p>In theory, they couldn’t be more different. Jiwoo sold herself to a woman she loved, just to be used as an object, so at least, she could be intimate with her.</p><p>Hyejoo however… was utterly terrified of people, love, and most of all intimacy. The thought of any sexual encounter made her want to run and hide. But it was only natural, she was made that way. Not by nature, but by some cruel form of nurture.</p><p>“So… who’s this blonde girl, you gonna tell me now? Does my baby have a crush?” Jiwoo teased. “God no. She’s just some girl I met yesterday.”</p><p>“On a mission?”</p><p>“Yeah… D-do you promise not to tell Sooyoung?”</p><p>“Of course!”</p><p>“Alright well… She was somebody who was in the building, she didn’t witness anything, but I was supposed to kill her, but I couldn’t… and now she thinks we’re friends or something and I just… it’s just not right. I don’t know. But the problem is, for some reason, the fact that she thought I was some kind of hero really bothered me!” Hyejoo grumbled.</p><p>Jiwoo snickered, “Yeah… I love you, kid. But you are no hero. But to whoever that girl is, you are. Run with it, get yourself a woman, Hye, can’t go into adulthood all alone.”</p><p>“Funny of you to say.”</p><p>“I’m not alone, I have you… and I guess I have Sooyoung.”</p><p>“Five nights a week, you do.”</p><p>“Yep… But really. Don’t be such a loner, you hate all of us, you hate all the people at the parties, when are you gonna find someone you can bond with?”</p><p>“I can’t. That’s just how they raised me, isn’t it?”</p><p>“No, that’s what they told you, that you don’t have to believe.”</p><p>Hyejoo sighed. “I guess.”</p><p>“Good girl. Now, have a couple drinks with the grown-ups downstairs, kid. You’ll feel better.”</p><p>“Can’t I just drink alone with you? You aren’t loud or anything.”</p><p>“I have time.”</p><p>Hyejoo smiled, opening the cabinet below the sink and grabbing two bottles. “You keep alcohol under your sink?” Hyejoo smirked. “Yeah, this is where I go when Sooyoung tells me to sober up.”</p><p>“Sooyoung truly created the monster.”</p><p>“Well, no, there was already a monster here, she just gave the monster guns and a title.”</p><p>“And a really bad hangover every morning.”</p><p>“Then I have to drink more to get over that, it’s a vicious cycle.”</p><p>“Hey, it could be heroin...”</p><p>“I wanna die with a lot more dignity than getting AIDs from needles or choking on my own tongue, I wanna kill my enemies and jump off a bridge, or getting murdered could be cool too. Either way.”</p><p>Jiwoo laughed. “You’re a smart girl, Hyejoo. Although, I could do without you dying at all.”</p><p>“Yeah. We all know I’m not making it to thirty, and who knows, if all this hero shit continues, I may not make it until next week.”</p><p>Jiwoo put her arm around Hyejoo’s waist. “I told you not to talk like that, it makes me sad.”</p><p>“What am I supposed to tell you? I haven’t cut or anything in months, what do you really want me to do, lie? I can’t pretend that I’m happy to be alive, I can’t pretend that my life has any meaning, that ship sailed when I killed those bastards that raised me. After that, I was complete, now I’m growing more and more incomplete every day.”</p><p>“You were twelve, nobody peeks at twelve. Come on, sweetie. You’re still a kid, you’ll find it one day.”</p><p>“Will I? I’m not living for myself anymore. I work, that’s all I do. And when I’m not working, I’m laying in my bed drunk trying to forget this pain of an existence. That’s not gonna change.”</p><p>“I know… But look at me… You know how sad and awful my life is? I’m a prostitute for a girl because I love her, and even if she just uses me for sex, I’m happy that she’s thinking of me at all… My entire family disowned me, and everyone in this house hates me. Pretty bad right? But I know things will be better someday… Look, kid. I doubt a single person in this house full of fucked up people has suffered more than you have, especially at such a young age, and there is still a lot of stuff you haven’t even told me. But at least have some hope, even if its dumb.”</p><p>“I guess you’re right.”</p><p>“And, if you ever see that blonde girl again, get her number,” Jiwoo said, turning around and leaving the room, leaving Hyejoo sitting alone in her bathroom. Hyejoo set the bottle on the counter and went to go lay in her bed.</p><p>xxx</p><p>Chaewon sat on her bed, looking at the wall. She had butterflies buried within the confines of her stomach, and a warm smile on her face. She didn’t bother questioning how weird it was that she randomly fell deeply in love with some criminal that she’d met months ago.</p><p>She wondered if Hyejoo was well. She hoped that Hyejoo wasn’t suffering because of her occupation that she didn’t exactly seem thrilled with.</p><p>“Hey, Chaewon,” The greeting spooked her quite a bit as she was rather timid and jumpy these days, still all freaked out from the incident at the motel room. “Yes?”</p><p>“You wanna go for a walk with me? I know you aren’t a fan of being left alone.” Her best friend, roommate, and basically older brother, Wooseok, said from the doorway.</p><p>Chaewon sighed, “Sure.” She threw on a coat and stepped outside in the cold air with Wooseok beside her.</p><p>“So… what’s wrong?” He asked, setting his hand on Chaewon’s shoulder, looking down at her. “Nothing, I told you, the weird murder thing happened, and some girl saved me.” Chaewon said, strategically not including that the girl in question was one of them.</p><p>“Yeah, but you seem more concerned about the girl than the fact you could have died.”</p><p>“Well… She was really pretty if that answers your question.”</p><p>“Not really, although it gives me some insight into why you’re acting so weird. Girls aren’t the most important thing in the entire world, you know.”</p><p>“Easy thing for you to say.”</p><p>“You little brat.” He said with a laugh, pinching Chaewon’s shoulder.</p><p>“Where are we going today?” Chaewon asked,</p><p>“Well, I didn’t wanna tell you because you would have said no, but I’m going to get another tattoo today, and you’re coming with me. I’m gonna try a new place today, I’ve heard many good things about them.”</p><p>“Seriously? I have to sit in a waiting room all day?! Better be a small one.”</p><p>“Yeah, just testing out the waters, ya know? Also, it’s super close, not a long walk.”</p><p>“Oh! It’s right next to the café, maybe I’ll stop in there, even if it’s my day off.”</p><p>“Sounds better than a waiting room,” Wooseok said, going to the tattoo shop, as Chaewon walked to her place of work for a drink and perhaps a muffin.</p><p>“Hey, Hyunjin, any new rolls today?” Chaewon asked.</p><p>“Hi, Chae, you aren’t working today, are you?”</p><p>“Nah, my brother has an appointment next door, so I decided to stop in.”</p><p>“Oh, neat. And yes, we have many, good thing… I was worried my boss was gonna get mad for me eating all of them.”</p><p>“Ugh, Hyun! You’re so lucky I’m not telling on you.”</p><p>“Yeah, you’re a real life-saver!”</p><p>“Can I get… Hm…”</p><p>“Strawberry milk with extra whipped cream?” Hyunjin asked, knowing that was Chaewon’s go-to drink.</p><p>“You betcha! But add some extra sprinkles since we’re friends.”</p><p>“Got it.”</p><p>Chaewon watched Hyunjin make the drink, awkwardly standing in the somewhat empty café.</p><p>“Here ya are,” Hyunjin said with a smile, handing Chaewon her drink. Chaewon planned to be back to the café to sit in their much more comfortable seats, but decided to check in on Wooseok first, so she walked happily over to the parlor next door, sipping her sugary drink.</p><p>The bell rang as she entered the tattoo shop, she noticed the girl with black hair covering her face sitting at the counter looked rather familiar, but she gasped aloud when the girl at the counter looked up from her phone. That had to be the criminal from that one night, that had to be Hyejoo.</p><p>Hyejoo gasped too, her eyes going wide as if she’d just seen a ghost.</p><p>“Oh… Hi, there.” Hyejoo said awkwardly, laughing at her either good or awful luck.</p><p>“Hi, it’s nice seeing you again.” Chaewon said, trying to subdue her pounding heart. This was the first time she’d ever seen Hyejoo in a place that wasn’t dark, and she certainly didn’t disappoint.</p><p>Chaewon wondered how Hyejoo could possibly be working somewhere, wasn’t she part of some criminal gang or something?</p><p>“Yeah, it is pretty cool seeing you again.” Hyejoo admitted, not sure where those words came from.</p><p>“Totes!” Chaewon cheered, taking a sip of her drink. Hyejoo laughed at Chaewon’s admittedly adorable disposition.</p><p>“So how the hell did you end up here? I could have never imagined you getting tattoos… Even in the short amount of time we spent together.”</p><p>“Oh, I’m just here to check on, Wooseok. Hm… him” She said, pointing to Wooseok once she found him. “Is he your boyfriend?” Hyejoo asked. “No, we’re roommates.”</p><p>“That’s what they all say.”</p><p>“Oh no… I uh… I’m not one for men.”</p><p>“Ohhh, that makes more sense, so does the way you were talking to me the other night.” Hyejoo mocked. “O-oh… Umm…” Chaewon stuttered, feeling suddenly very nervous. “Don’t worry, I’m not mad or anything.” Hyejoo said. Chaewon was relieved, her heart still pounding in her chest.</p><p>“So… are you flirting with me, mocking me, or just being friendly?”</p><p>“A mix of all three.”</p><p>“Right, but may I ask the intention?” Chaewon said, getting a bit braver.</p><p>Hyejoo laughed, “I thought I’d leave it ambiguous.”</p><p>“That’s no fun.”</p><p>“Well, that’s how it goes, isn’t it, princess?”</p><p>Chaewon scowled and took a sip of her drink. “You wanna take a seat? I’ll come join you for a bit… if you want company that is.”</p><p>“Oh, sure!” Chaewon cheered. Hyejoo stood, and Chaewon’s heart fluttered while now looking up at Hyejoo.</p><p>“So… What are you doing here?” Chaewon asked. “Oh, my family runs this as a front, it makes it easier to hide all the crime stuff… You know?” Chaewon nodded, “So your family runs it? Can I meet them?”</p><p>“Yeah, sure, just DO NOT tell them how we met, don’t tell them anything about that night, they’ll be super mad.”</p><p>Chaewon nodded, Hyejoo sat down on the couch beside Chaewon, sneaking an arm around her back, and then pointing to the woman doing Wooseok’s tattoo. “That’s Yerim, she’s my older sister. That’s Heejin, the one sleeping on the job on the couch over there.” Hyejoo said, pointing at the woman laying on the couch by the window.</p><p>“Mom’s in the back, her name is Sooyoung,”</p><p>“What about your dad?”</p><p>“Well… I don’t have one really. I’m an orphan so these guys raised me.” Hyejoo said, ignoring any sort of detail.</p><p>“Oh, I’m sorry.”</p><p>“It’s fine. The closest thing I have to a mother and father would be Jiwoo and Sooyoung, although Jiwoo and Sooyoung aren’t together technically, then again… they kind of are. A lot of relationships in this household are convoluted.”</p><p>“Alright, it’s good you have people to look out for you.”</p><p>“No kidding.”</p><p>Chaewon hesitantly laid her head on Hyejoo’s shoulder, making Hyejoo jump slightly, but she adjusted rather quickly. Chaewon studied Hyejoo’s hands, all the clearly expensive rings and the little tattoos on her hands.</p><p>“You have tattoos?” Chaewon asked, “Oh yeah, I got tons of these little guys, most of them look like shit, but they still mean a lot to me… Can I be really honest for a second?” Hyejoo asked hesitantly. “Oh, of course.”</p><p>“I did a lot of them myself, I did it because it was better than cutting, and a lot of them are because of stuff like that. My body is covered in so many scars, but covering them with ink has kind of felt like… a fresh start in a way.”</p><p>“That’s kind of beautiful.” Chaewon said, laying a comforting hand on Hyejoo’s knee. “Thanks.” Hyejoo said, giving Chaewon a shy smile.</p><p>“Okay… You can go to the help counter now…” Yerim told Wooseok, before looking at the should-be help counter attendee. “One second,” Hyejoo said, standing and walking back to the help counter. “Assuming everything went well, I’ll take your card” Hyejoo paused, “And that cute little blondie’s number.”</p><p>Wooseok laughed, “Good job, Chae.” He congratulates Chaewon, who was stunned still sitting in the waiting room seat.</p><p>Wooseok handed Hyejoo his card, and wrote down Chaewon’s number on a sticky note, handing it to Hyejoo as well. “Thanks, man. I’ll be seeing you.” Hyejoo paused. “And you,” She began, looking at Chaewon. “I’ll see you too.”</p><p>“Oh… that’d be great.” Chaewon said, still a bit flustered.</p><p>Wooseok grabbed the sleeve of Chaewon’s coat, as she threw out the empty drink cup in the trash by the door.</p><p>Chaewon gripped Wooseok’s sleeve too, laying her head on his arm as they walked. “What was that about? Does my little Wonnie have a girlfriend?” He asked, happy for his friend. “I hope so! I mean, did you see her? Like… she was so hot…”</p><p>“You’re so cute, Chae.”</p><p>“I know.”</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I forgot to include this. But my curious cat is almost as dead as my cat in real life, I'm not talking about the animal ;)<br/>https://curiouscat.me/HyeHowAreYa</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Arcane Magic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hyejoo drives Chaewon home from work and they take a nap together</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The whole turn of events that took place over the past week was nearly too much for Chaewon, she was so tired, but she found sleeping hard because her mind was running a mile a minute. It was completely insane that someone like Hyejoo could ever find someone like Chaewon interesting.</p><p>She sat at the counter of the empty café, trying to pass the time until she was to clock out. “Always empty… why do I even have to work?” Chaewon grumbled, going to the back presumably to hide in the office when she finally heard the bell ring at the door. She groaned again, hoping the person walking in didn’t hear her, the only worse than not working was… well, working.</p><p>But as soon as she turned around she gasped once again. “H-Hey… What are you doing here?” Chaewon nervously asked the tall dark figure that bent over the counter, a face on recognizable as Hyejoo’s.</p><p>“I saw you and your buddy walked to my shop. It’s not open today or anything… But I figured I’d offer to drive you home.” Hyejoo said. “You don’t have to.”</p><p>“The shop isn’t even open; I don’t have any other reason to be here.”</p><p>“You came here to drive me home?” Chaewon said, a smile crossing her face, her heart warmed by Hyejoo’s actions before she finally realized. “Hey… I never told you when I get out of work.” Chaewon said, raising her eyebrow at Hyejoo.</p><p>“My family has its ways of tracking people down. I didn’t want to, but as soon as they heard about you they absolutely needed to interfere…”</p><p>Chaewon giggled, “That’s so funny… you’re like a criminal gang and stuff, but you’re still so… normal?”</p><p>“Ayy… don’t be saying that in places people can hear you… But also, you’re right.”</p><p>Chaewon grabbed her purse and her coat, stepping out from behind the counter and allowing Hyejoo to lead her to the car. “So… what are they like? Besides lazy and psychotic”</p><p>“Oh… Well in my group I’m the youngest, so not only do I get the most attention, but I also get teased the most…” Hyejoo trailed off, opening the car door for Chaewon who giggled. “Aww, you’re the baby?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“Wait, this car is hella nice, how did you get it?”</p><p>“Sooyoung got it for me once I was able to drive, then for a long time she wouldn’t let me… But I don’t blame her.”</p><p>“Huh, why?”</p><p>“Oh, because I’m insane.”</p><p>“Well… should I be worried?”</p><p>“No, I’m a lot better now, or at least… I burry it better.” Hyejoo said with an awkward laugh as she sat down in the driver’s seat.</p><p>“Oh,” Chaewon said, sitting down in the car with Hyejoo. “You knew Sooyoung before you could drive?”</p><p>“I met Sooyoung when I was twelve.”</p><p>“Then like… where did you come from?”</p><p>Hyejoo laughed, “You phrased that very weird… I’m not a big fan of talking about it…I told you my parents are dead, I guess. But it’s not a bad thing to say the least, I’m much better off without my parents.”</p><p>“Oh, I’m sorry.”</p><p>“As I said, it’s better that way, don’t feel bad for me.”</p><p>“Well, I feel bad that you feel that way, that sounds awful…”</p><p>“Yeah, I guess.”</p><p>Hyejoo paused. “Where am I going exactly?”</p><p>“Just down the road, keep heading down this street and I’ll tell you when my house is coming up,”</p><p>Hyejoo nodded, starting the car and driving the direction Chaewon gave her. “How about your family, Chae?”</p><p>“Hmm, my parents divorced when I was pretty young, and I guess you could say both of them had other things to worry about, so I lived with my grandparents. They’re super nice, though! They felt pretty bad about all the stuff that happened, so they spoiled me quite a lot.” Chaewon said, giggling a bit, remembering all the shiny new toys she used to get all the time.</p><p>“Oh… I guess that’s good, then.”</p><p>“Sometimes I wish my parents would at least reach out to me or something… But whatever, I guess we’re one in the same, we don’t need them.” Chaewon said with a smile. Hyejoo laughed, “I didn’t exactly say I didn’t need them; I didn’t really have anyone stable to raise me. I guess that’s how I ended up here.”</p><p>“Well, I’ll tell you what. Maybe if you ever wanna go on a date sometime… We can do something you always wanted to do as a kid. How does that sound?”</p><p>Hyejoo smiled, laying her hand on Chaewon’s thigh. “You’re way too sweet, I’m starting to think you’re another assassin.” Chaewon laughed, “Look at me, do you think I could actually kill someone?”</p><p>“No, but neither did I when I was a kid.”</p><p>“When you were a what now?”</p><p>“I meant nobody would suspect a tiny angry kid to kill someone,”</p><p>“But you did that… when you were a kid? Like a child? Under eighteen? An actual murder of a person?”</p><p>“Yes, yes, yes, and yes.”</p><p>“Oh… Wait! You passed my house.”</p><p>Hyejoo pulled over the car and stepped out. She looked at the long collection of red-brick townhouses. “Which one is yours?”</p><p>“Come with me!” Chaewon announced, grabbing Hyejoo’s hand and leading her to the correct house. Hyejoo looked around at all the pots on the deck that were filled with flowers. She smiled, as it was just another cute thing that Chaewon did.</p><p>Chaewon opened the door and led Hyejoo inside. It was beautifully decorated, with pink, red, and white, the whole house looked like a Valentine’s Day card. Hyejoo watched Chaewon remove her white sneakers at the door, so she did the same, feeling a lot smaller without her chunky platform shoes. She hated being looked down on.</p><p>Luckily for her, this girl was tiny with or without shoes, so she had no need to worry. “Aww, you’re small,” Chaewon said, noticing Hyejoo’s height difference. “Still taller than you, pumpkin.”</p><p>“Yeah, that’s not a rare situation. I always like to think I have the moral high ground though.”</p><p>“Then how the hell do we get along?” Hyejoo joked. “Well, you’re good, you’re just… mislead.”</p><p>“I wouldn’t be so sure; you don’t know the whole story.”</p><p>“You seem a lot better the less you talk.”</p><p>“How are you supposed to have the moral high ground if you’re mean?”</p><p>“I’m not mean, it’s mean to lie.”</p><p>“Alright fine… then judgmental.”</p><p>“Fair enough.”</p><p>Chaewon paused, looking up sorrowfully at Hyejoo. “Can you stay? I’ve been really lonely lately.”</p><p>“Oh, sure.” Hyejoo said, accepting Chaewon’s offer, and following Chaewon to her bedroom. Hyejoo smirked, the pastel pink walls, the lavender silk quilt, the pillows with Hello Kitty characters plastered all over them, and the numerous Pokémon and Animal Crossing stuffed animals. It made too much sense.</p><p>Hyejoo stuck out like a sore thumb in such an environment, her giant navy and green flannel jacket and tight-fitting dark clothes didn’t seem to fit in such a fluffy pastel room. “What would you like to do?” Chaewon asked, plopping down on her bed and ruining the meticulously placed stuffed animals.</p><p>Chaewon noticed Hyejoo’s hesitance. “The stuffies don’t bite. Just move them, silly bean.” Chaewon joked, grabbing the sleeve of Hyejoo’s thick jacket and tugging on it. “Or are you waiting to come up with something to mock me for all the stuffed animals? I had a shitty childhood too, I don’t judge your coping mechanisms.”</p><p>“Oh, no! I-I would never…”</p><p>“Whatever, just come here.”</p><p>Hyejoo sat on the bed. “What music do you like?” Hyejoo asked, trying to seem cooler than she actually was by forcing herself to start a conversation. “Uh… I listen to Doja Cat.”</p><p>“That’s a lot racier than I thought you’d like,”</p><p>“Whatever,” Chaewon whined, rolling her eyes. “Don’t let any of this fool you,” She reiterated, showing Hyejoo she was a ‘bad girl’.</p><p>Hyejoo scoffed, “Sure, peaches.”</p><p>“One day you’ll run out of fruits to call me.”</p><p>“Then I’ll have to move to veggies.”</p><p>Chaewon scowled at Hyejoo, “You said veggies, you poser! You’re just like me… in fact, I bet you’re worse.”</p><p>“What? I never said I wasn’t, don’t act like you just caught me in a lie.”</p><p>“Okay fine then, what music do you listen to? Since you’re such a softie.”</p><p>“My Chemical Romance.”</p><p>“Cringe.”</p><p>“Excuse me? Fine, whatever… I don’t expect you normies to understand.”</p><p>“Don’t be one of those.” Chaewon chided jokingly. “One of what?”</p><p>“A bitch-ass hipster!” Chaewon whined, giving Hyejoo her shifty eyes of distrust. She wanted a goth girlfriend, not a hipster girlfriend… ew.</p><p>“Woah there, grapefruit.” Hyejoo patronized, surprised slightly by Chaewon’s choice of language, but delighted nonetheless.</p><p>Chaewon scowled again before her face completely changed as if it was magic as she was about to propose a new subject. “I wanna watch tv!” She announced, hopping off her bed and prancing over to her desk where her remote lay. She grabbed it and turned on her tv.</p><p>“Yeah, what do we watch?” Hyejoo asked, realizing she’d never had much of an interest in shows or movies. Chaewon hopped back on her bed, “Uhhh… How about kittens, can’t go wrong with kittens.”</p><p>Hyejoo smiled and laughed quietly. “I could get behind kittens,” Hyejoo said, laying down at Chaewon’s request. Chaewon laid down next to Hyejoo, awkwardly resting her shoulder against Hyejoo’s shoulder because she was too nervous to ask to cuddle.</p><p>Little did she know, so was Hyejoo. Hyejoo had recently grown to like skinship quite a lot, as her fears of being hurt by people grew less and less. Especially when it came to Jiwoo, who’d become more of a mother figure than a housemate. Jiwoo’s snuggles made her feel safe, even if she thought Jiwoo was just defenseless, and Hyejoo was the one with the training.</p><p>She had only seen Chaewon a couple of times now, but she already felt so close and bonded. That’d never happened before and it felt great. Now Hyejoo longed to just move her hand the slightest bit to grasp Chaewon’s own. So, she did. She grabbed Chaewon’s tiny hand gently, pausing and seeing if Chaewon was okay with it.</p><p>Chaewon smiled and blushed a bit, wrapping her hand around a couple of Hyejoo’s fingers. Hyejoo looked down at their intertwined hands and smiled at Chaewon, who adjusted her laying position so she would be facing Hyejoo. She took a leap of faith and wrapped her arm around Hyejoo, followed closely by her leg in which she rested on top of Hyejoo, while she delicately rubbed the inside of Hyejoo’s calf with her foot.</p><p>Hyejoo pulled her hand out of Chaewon’s grasp and put it around her waist, offering her other hand to Chaewon. Chaewon took the opportunity and grabbed Hyejoo’s fingers again. It was adorable to Hyejoo how Chaewon’s hand was so small she could only hold three of her fingers in her tiny palm.</p><p>Chaewon was amazed, she was halfway laying on Hyejoo, and it wasn’t even a dream. She rested her head on Hyejoo’s shoulder, continuing to lovingly caress Hyejoo’s leg with her own.</p><p>Everything was just right.</p><p>Hyejoo shook herself awake, realizing she’d been sleeping. The light pink room was unfamiliar until she remembered she’d taken a nap is Chaewon’s bed. Chaewon was sat on her desk chair as she furiously pressed keys on her laptop. “Peaches?” Hyejoo asked, blinking a bit and rubbing her eyes.</p><p>“Oh hi, good moorrniing~!” Chaewon sang, only taking her eyes off the screen for a second. “Morning?” Hyejoo said in a brief panic. “Well, no, it’s evening, but you slept quite a lot. Where you tired?” Chaewon asked. “I guess so… What are you doing?”</p><p>“I’m playing Geometry Dash, I have the feeling that if you didn’t live in like… a real-life video game, you’d really like this stuff.”</p><p>“I do, I just don’t do much of it anymore because I’m either sleeping or… working.”</p><p>“Oh yeah, I get that, work really consumes… fuck!” Chaewon trailed off when she ran into a spike. “Oh well, do you want some food? I have leftover pasta.”</p><p>“I don’t want to eat all your food,” Hyejoo said politely.</p><p>“It’s no big deal, I’m going shopping tomorrow anyway, the food needs to be eaten.”</p><p>“Alright then, I could eat,”</p><p>Chaewon hopped off her desk chair and helped Hyejoo stand. They walked out of the room into the main area where the kitchen and living room were. Wooseok sat on the couch, giving Chaewon a weird look.</p><p>It was not a regular sight to see Chaewon leave her room with a girl. Chaewon was always a shy, weird girl, she never had much of an interest in people. She always preferred cartoon characters and got nervous around people. But despite the risk and danger that Hyejoo presented her, everything still felt so easy.</p><p>“Oh, Wooseokie! This is Hyejoo, she’s the one who saved me.” Chaewon said. Hyejoo’s heart dropped, worrying that this random man knew what she did. “Oh good! You’re such a hero, Hyejoo. Thanks for taking care of my little sister.” Wooseok said, standing up and shaking Hyejoo’s hand.</p><p>“Oh… Uh… Y-you’re welcome. I mean… it’s not a problem,” Hyejoo said awkwardly, still trying to figure out if Wooseok knew too much or not.</p><p>She walked over to the kitchen with Chaewon. “What did you tell him?” Hyejoo whispered. “I just told him you saved me,” Chaewon whispered back. “Any more?”</p><p>“No,”</p><p>“Phew! That could have been bad,” Hyejoo said as Chaewon scooped the bowtie noodles into a bowl, then dumping some meaty tomato sauce on top. She put it in the microwave for a bit and then handed the hot bowl to Hyejoo when she was done.</p><p>“Thanks,” Hyejoo said, grabbing the bowl and forking the noodles. She and Chaewon stood in the kitchen in silence, eating their pasta.</p><p>After a while, Hyejoo got a call from Sooyoung and she realized her error. She’d been gone from the house with no contact for a long time. “Excuse me,” She said, stepping away from Chaewon, getting ready for the long rant she’d get when she answered. “Hyejoo, what the fuck did I tell you!? You HAVE to text me; do you understand how bad it’d be if I lost you!?” Sooyoung yelled. “I’m sorry, I got distracted,”</p><p>“Who are you with,”</p><p>“I’m at Chaewon’s house,”</p><p>“Thank god, you’re with cotton ball, stay out of trouble kiddo, and please come home soon, I don’t like it when you’re out there,”</p><p>“I know, Youngie. I’ll be home soon,”</p><p>“Good, I love you, Hye,”</p><p>“I love you too,”</p><p>Hyejoo hung up. “I gotta go, pineapple, Sooyoung doesn’t like it when I’m out too long,”</p><p>“Oh, alright, goodbye,” Chaewon said. “Do I get a hug?” Hyejoo asked, immediately feeling shy after asking. “Oh, of course!” Chaewon said, walking up to Hyejoo and giving her a hug. Hyejoo smiled, laying her head on top of Chaewon’s.</p><p>Hyejoo looked down at Chaewon, each girl expected the other to say something, but neither of them did. Chaewon closed her eyes and lurched forward on her tippy toes. She wrapped her arms around the back of Hyejoo’s neck and gave her a quick peck. Her confidence wasn’t high enough to go for a full kiss yet.</p><p>“Is that all, grapefruit?”</p><p>Chaewon scowled, grabbing Hyejoo’s collar and violently yanking her face down so she could kiss her lips again. If Chaewon’s tongue wasn’t filling her mouth, Hyejoo would have laughed. Such aggressive moves from such a tiny girl? She liked that.</p><p>Chaewon pulled away first, she knew Hyejoo had to go, but if she didn’t she would have happily made out with her all night. “Bye, Chae. I’ll miss you,”</p><p>“Aww! I’ll miss you too!”</p><p>Hyejoo set her hand on Chaewon’s cheek, giving her face one last glance before she put on her shoes and headed out into the night.</p><p>Hyejoo made sure she was inside the car before she began to laugh hysterically, she didn’t know why exactly. Maybe it was Chaewon’s disposition, or joy, or the fact that she knew from the very beginning Chaewon was a fool for ever letting her in her life. Didn’t matter, for the first time in possibly forever, she felt pretty good.</p><p>Chaewon did the same, she waited until Hyejoo was in her car before she began to bounce around the kitchen a squeal. “Wooseokie!! Guess what I did?! I can’t believe it!!” Chaewon shrieked, hopping over to Wooseok who had unfortunately witnessed everything. “Good job, girlie,” He said, holding up his hand to give Chaewon a high five.</p><p>“I’m so excited! I think we’re a couple now!!” Chaewon cheered, flopping down on the couch next to Wooseok. “Mhm,” He nodded, mostly uninterested in Chaewon’s constant screaming. However, he was certainly happy for her, whether that’d meant he wanted Chaewon to be happy, or just didn’t want to have Chaewon tell him about her crushes all day.</p><p>xxx</p><p>Hyejoo walked through the extensive built-in parking garage at Sooyoung’s home, entering the basement, and then climbing the stairs to the main floor. She walked through the main room to the attached kitchen where the rest of her housemates were at. She smiled at them, offering many confused looks as she normally treated her housemates with hostility.</p><p>“Welcome back, Hye. I take it you finally got some, didn’t you?” Heejin greeted, turning Hyejoo’s bright smile into an instant scowl. “Shut the fuck up, Heejin,”</p><p>Heejin got off her seat, waiting to confront the younger girl. “What did you just say to me?”</p><p>“Shut the fuck up, lazy ass. I remember explicitly telling you not to say shit like that to me, and what do you do?”</p><p>“Respect your elders, kid.”</p><p>“You don’t deserve respect,”</p><p>“God, you two are so like… dumb. Heejin, you’re drunk as fuck, Hyejoo… you’re like… yourself. Calm down, idiots, if I have to see you two fight like ONE MORE TIME I’m disowning you as my siblings.” Yerim said, pulling Heejin back by her arm. “Did you hear what she said?” Heejin mumbled. “No, you stupid alcoholic, go like take like… a nap,”</p><p>She gently led Heejin back to the couch. “I don’t need sleep,” Heejin muttered, collapsing on the couch in the main room and instantly passing out.</p><p>“Sorry, Hye. You know how she gets,”</p><p>“Oh yeah, and she’s not too much better sober, is she?”</p><p>Yerim laughed, “Nope, she’s certainly not. But can you like… cut her some slack? I know you two could really relate to each other if you just talked.” Yerim said sweetly.</p><p>“I guess, she doesn’t like talking to me much?”</p><p>“She’s jealous, she used to be Sooyoung’s favorite,” Yerim whispered, out of earshot of any of the other girls hanging out in the decadent kitchen.</p><p>Hyejoo laughed. “Don’t I give her the most shit?” Hyejoo whispered back,</p><p>“Yeah, but you know Sooyoung, she likes a challenge.”</p><p>Hyejoo scoffed. “Join us, Hye,” Yerim suggested, tugging on Hyejoo’s sleave. “You got it,”</p><p>Hyejoo stepped over to the kitchen, sitting down at the bar in that Sooyoung sat behind like normal. She joined Yerim and a couple of their friends who had apparently come to visit. “Hyungseo, Eunyoung,” Hyejoo greeted.</p><p>Eunyoung smiled, “Ayy loose cannon is here, how much are you drinking tonight?”</p><p>Hyejoo paused, and then thought of Chaewon, picturing the perfect sweet girl in her mind. “Just one for me,”</p><p>“What?” Everyone at the bar said in unison. “Yeah, one,”</p><p>“Huh,” Sooyoung said, handing Hyejoo a singular shot. Hyejoo drained it with a small amount of guilt. She felt the need to correct bits and pieces of herself for Chaewon. It felt like Chaewon could see everything she did. So, she chose to be good, at least for now.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Poison Arrow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chaewon gives herself a makeover and gets completely shit-faced at Hyejoo's disposal, and Hyejoo is terrified of her new thoughts and feelings towards Chaewon.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“No, Sooyoung, I don’t want to help set up your stupid party!” Hyejoo yelled down the stairs, hoping Sooyoung would take into consideration she was too preoccupied to do chores now. “Just because you have a girlfriend doesn’t mean you’re too cool to help,” Sooyoung shouted up the stairs so Hyejoo could hear her.</p><p>“She’s not…”</p><p>“You have a girlfriend now?” Yerim asked, seemingly popping out of nowhere, with a clearly hungover Heejin in tow. Hyejoo scratched her neck. “I think so,”</p><p>“So, like, when do we get to meet this girlfriend?” Yerim said, a weird tone creeping into her voice.</p><p>“She’s not fake,”</p><p>“I didn’t think you were lying, just surprised…”</p><p>“Surprised?”</p><p>“I mean, you aren’t the most like, social kid around, it just… surprised me.”</p><p>“Neither is she, I guess,”</p><p>“Like, invite her over tonight so you’ll have someone to spend the night with when you shut yourself in your room.”</p><p>“What? No, I don’t want her to be around this stuff,”</p><p>“It will be fine, like, do you have her number?”</p><p>“Yep,”</p><p>“There we go, let’s invite her,”</p><p>“No!” Hyejoo whined, tugging at Yerim’s arm. “Come on, kiddo, it’ll be fun,” Yerim said rubbing the top of Hyejoo’s head.</p><p>xxx</p><p>Hyejoo refused to do the inviting by herself, so Heejin and Yerim naturally took the initiative. Well, more like Yerim did and Heejin watched. Heejin was never really interested in that kind of thing. She was never one for drama, she was rarely interested in things that didn’t explode. However, she did like the idea of secretly helping Hyejoo, as she would rather die than admit she wanted the best for her ‘little sister’.</p><p>xxx</p><p>Chaewon got the news. Of course, no matter how sketchy the whole thing seemed, and no matter how naïve she believed she was being, she accepted. With barely more than 12 hours’ notice, she needed to get ready.</p><p>How the hell could SHE possibly blend in a place like that? She wasn’t sure how. But Chaewon sure knew how to work some magic if she wanted to. She left her bedroom with the plan to go to the shops. “Wooseokie! I’m heading out, I’ll be back for dinner and drag race!” Chaewon told her roommate, mentioning their favorite way to spend their evenings with a little bit of pasta and a little bit of reality tv.</p><p>Chaewon stuck her earbuds in, trying to find whatever Hyejoo was listening to in the car to set the mood. She would definitely have to ask Hyejoo to be Spotify friends with her. Then she remembered, Hyejoo told her she listened to My Chemical Romance! Aha! A crack in the case.</p><p>Although, Chaewon wasn’t too keen on listening to that. So, she looked and looked through playlists and recommended artists until she found something relatively listenable. So, she walked over to the shopping mall listening to Foo Fighters and trying to get in the mindset.</p><p>Chaewon was always a big fan of fashion, switching up her style, and trying new things. So, trying to find something that would be party-appropriate wouldn’t be too much of a struggle.</p><p>By the time she returned she’d spent way more money than she should have, lugging her bags all the way home. She hid the evidence of the receipt from Wooseok so he wouldn’t know. She’d have to work overtime to be able to cover her end of the rent. However, her closet was in the need of some more stuff, so it was needed after all.</p><p>She laid it all out on her bed and wondered what the hell she’d do with all of it. She grabbed her bag from the drug store. She was tired of her bleached hair, she needed to go natural, and this was a good excuse. She bleached her own hair, so dying it back shouldn’t be an issue.</p><p>She grabbed the black hair dye from the back and took it to the shower. She threw one of Wooseok’s old t-shirts on and a pair of rubber gloves once she’d removed the rest of her clothing and bent over the bathtub, haphazardly coating her scalp and tresses in the black dye. She did it in parts, lathering the tar-like substance through her hair.</p><p>She rinsed and checked the mirror for any spots she missed. Then washed her hair until the dye stopped leaking out. She removed her rubber gloves and shampooed her hair, washing all the dye off her forehead, fearing that it’d stain her skin.</p><p>Once she was clean, she dried her hair, then she curled it a bit. Once she’d added texture, she threw her hair up into a messy top knot.</p><p>She put on lounge clothes while she picked out her outfit and tried on some of the clothes she bought, experimenting with different styles and things. She wore black leather shorts, a fishnet top with matching tights, a lacey bralette, and a sheer floor-length cardigan with bell sleeves.</p><p>She looked in the mirror. She wasn’t sure she liked it. Maybe the shoes would help.</p><p>After seeing Hyejoo’s huge platform boots, she decided to go out and buy an almost identical pair, just she could do without the scary spikes. She put on some thick socks, worried the scary shoes would give her blisters. Chaewon then took a moment to adjust to the feelings of being a full six inches taller.</p><p>She looked back in the mirror and saw somebody she wasn’t. She wondered how she could possibly be wearing so many clothes and still feel so naked.</p><p>This didn’t feel like her. Maybe she’d be this person one day, but this was too jarring. She needed to put some more clothes on. She found one of her old lavender flannel shirts she had for some reason, and promptly sliced it down the middle, purposefully loosening the threads at the bottom to distress it.</p><p>She put it on, soon feeling a lot better. But she still felt a bit alienated from her past style. So, she looked through her clothes, finding a skirt and a pair of baby blue thigh highs and calling it a day.</p><p>She sloppily applied the makeup she remembered Hyejoo having. A bit of dark, possibly brownish lip tint and a bit of dark eyeliner. But she couldn’t help herself, so she added just a bit of blush to her cheeks and nose.</p><p>With her new pink skull earrings, she felt ready. She was right on time too, because just as soon as she sat back and felt done, Yerim texted her. She headed out the front door and met Yerim outside her car.</p><p>“Hi! I’m Yerim, this is Heejin, I did your friend’s tattoo actually. We talked, but we haven’t met in person,” Yerim said, outstretching her hand to Chaewon for a handshake. “Oh, hi, thanks,” Chaewon said, a bit timid knowing that this was the pair that killed that woman upstairs the night she and Hyejoo met.</p><p>She questioned if it was safe to get in the car with these murderers, but had to remind herself that Hyejoo was one too. She always managed to forget that at opportune times.</p><p>The plan was for Yerim and Heejin to drive her back to their house so she could stay with Hyejoo overnight. However, the problem was Hyejoo didn’t exactly know that. Oh well, worse comes to worst, Yerim and Heejin have Hyejoo outnumbered.</p><p>Chaewon looked at the expensive bright purple car. It was somewhat tacky, but judging from Yerim’s personality, she liked that kinda thing.</p><p>Chaewon politely sat in the back seat. “So… she didn’t come with you?”</p><p>“She doesn’t like to be seen with us,”</p><p>This whole thing seemed very off, so she clutched her phone tightly in case she needed help. “So… what’s your deal?” Heejin asked.</p><p>“O-oh, uh… I don’t know,” Chaewon responded timidly, playing with the ruffles of her skirt as the car began to move. “Well, what things do you like?” Yerim asked, already laughing inside. Noticing how she and Hyejoo would be a perfect mix of awkward delicate flowers that tried to look bad.</p><p>“Umm…” Chaewon stuttered, trying to figure out what interests to strategically leave out to sound cooler. “I like… cartoons, animals, clothes, stuff like that,” Chaewon quietly said. Yerim thought for a moment, not sure what to say to that. This girl seemed so fragile, she and Hyejoo were a natural match. “Hmm, that’s cool,”</p><p>Yerim thought of other things to ask. Sadly, she didn’t come up with much, so she stayed awkwardly silent, waiting for Heejin to pick up some of the slack, but knowing Heejin, she didn’t.</p><p>The car pulled into a gate and the house came into view. She was in awe; she’d never seen a building so big in her entire life. But Yerim drove into the driveway before she could fully see the whole house. Yerim drove into the parking garage under the house. Driving through a large parking lot to the front area by the door with many color-coded parking spots with matching cars.</p><p>Yerim pulled into the purple parking spot and turned off the car.</p><p>Heejin and Yerim got out of the car and opened the door for Chaewon. Chaewon struggled for her balance for a moment, remembering her huge platform shoes, and regaining her footing after a second. She walked with Heejin and Yerim towards the door that led up through the basement to the main floor.</p><p>“Come with me,” Yerim said, leaving Heejin behind to go find her group of friends. Yerim led Chaewon through the crowd of people and up to one of the twin staircases, then down the hallway a bit.</p><p>Yerim knocked on the door. “Special delivery!” Yerim shouted to Hyejoo who was on the other side of the door. The door opened to show a very unamused Hyejoo. “I hate you, Yerim,” Hyejoo groaned. “Behave, your girlfriend’s here,”</p><p>Hyejoo looked at her questioningly, then looked over to Chaewon standing awkwardly next to Yerim. “Oh, Woah,” She said impulsively, not recognizing Chaewon at first. “Hi…” Chaewon shyly greeted, as Yerim disappeared downstairs. “Hi, Chae. What the fuck happened to you?”</p><p>“O-oh, uhh… I wanted to try something new and you inspired me, I guess…”</p><p>“It scared me at first, but I think you look amazing,”</p><p>“Thanks! God… you too!” Chaewon said, looking at Hyejoo, who had gone a little crazy with the black eyeliner, covering her eyes with thick winged liner and a triangle pattern beneath her eyes, with sleek black lipstick. She had green ribbons braided into her two pigtail braids. Her outfit was a mix of neon green and black, with vinyl pants and matching gloves.</p><p>“These people get a little intense, so don’t leave my side, okay?” Hyejoo said, grabbing Chaewon’s hand in her gloved ones, leading her over to the couch with her other friends. “Who’s this?” Eunyoung asked, brushing her bob-length black hair behind her ear. “This is Chaewon, and she’s my… girlfriend,” Hyejoo said nervously. “Chaewon, this is Eunyoung, that’s Hyungseo, and over there in the corner is Joohyun.”</p><p>“Hi,” Chaewon said quietly, clutching Hyejoo’s hand while still trying to get a feel for this new environment. She’d never seen Hyejoo’s room before, and it looked exactly like she expected it to. Full of dark stuff, garbage, clothes on the floor, and many assortments of weapons decorating the walls.</p><p>She sat down on the couch when beckoned by Hyejoo. “What are we doing today, ladies?” Joohyun asked. “This,” Hyungseo said, laying her head in Eunyoung’s lap and taking a drink out of the bottle of wine in her hands.</p><p>“Awesome,” Joohyun spoke, grabbing her drink off the table. “Do you drink, Chae?” Hyejoo asked quietly. “Uh… yeah,” Chaewon lied, she didn’t know why, but especially in front of all these people, she wanted to seem cool.</p><p>“Cool, take this,” Hyejoo said, handing Chaewon a tiny cup off the table. Chaewon looked at the contents of the shot, before declaring it safe enough and draining the whole thing. She quickly learned of her mistake when the vile liquid violated her throat, burning all the way down.</p><p>“I take it that’s not your thing, is it, grapefruit?”</p><p>Chaewon shook her head. “I-it’s fine just wasn’t prepared,”</p><p>“If you say so,” Hyejoo said. Chaewon watched in awe as Hyejoo took two like it was nothing and then look back at Chaewon skeptically. Hyejoo should have known Chaewon wasn’t a party person, well, neither was she, but she was used to it. Chaewon clearly wasn’t.</p><p>It wasn’t long before Eunyoung got started on this story about one of the other parties she attended that week. Explaining how she and her buddies spent the entire night on mushrooms running through a hedge maze, apparently, as the rest of the group drank.</p><p>Chaewon laid on Hyejoo’s shoulder, trying to clear her thoughts as her mind began to run into overdrive it seemed. She thought drinking was supposed to be fun? But instead, she felt awful. She felt unsafe when she was unable to fully think straight. But for some reason, whether it was peer pressure, or the need to somehow feel ‘better,' as if that’s how it worked, made her keep drinking.</p><p>“Hey, Chae, are you alright?” Hyejoo said, wrapping her arm around Chaewon’s waist and looking at her face.</p><p>“I-I’m okay…” Chaewon said, her words slurred beyond the point of recognition. “She’s a lightweight, of course…” Joohyun said, laughing as Chaewon fell into Hyejoo’s lap. “Have fun taking care of <em>that</em>,” Eunyoung snickered. “We had to do that to you when you thought you were a bad girl. Let’s hope you're lucky and she doesn’t puke all over you,” Hyungseo laughed, recalling the old times she had when Hyejoo was younger.</p><p>“But seriously, is she okay?” Eunyoung asked.</p><p>Hyejoo gently rolled Chaewon over in her lap, examining Chaewon’s face again. Chaewon looked quite panicked as if she was trying desperately not to cry. “Uh… I don’t think so,” Hyejoo answered, taking Chaewon’s hair out of the top knot and petting it to try and soothe her.</p><p>“Well, us three can go if you need. We were gonna go do some more well… hardcore shit out in the yard, I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to try it, and not a good idea for you either when you have to… you know… deal with her,” Joohyun said.</p><p>“I think that’s for the best… You guys have fun,” Hyejoo said. Looking down back at Chaewon. “I-I’m so dumb…” Chaewon whimpered, her tears running down her face. “Don’t worry, Chae. I’ve done it before, it’s not a big deal, you’re just gonna be a bit sick tomorrow,”</p><p>“W-what about now?”</p><p>“Uhh…” Hyejoo began, trying to think about what Jiwoo would do. “Umm, here, go lay in my bed, I’ll give you some comfortable clothes and then I’ll get you some water,”</p><p>Hyejoo slowly began to help Chaewon up, grabbing Chaewon’s small hand in hers. Chaewon hesitantly stepped, doing everything she could to not trip on her giant platform shoes. Although, despite her efforts, she was far too uncoordinated to possibly make it from the couch to the bed. She nearly fell face-first into the floor if Hyejoo didn’t catch her. Hyejoo sighed, lifting Chaewon in her arms and carrying her to bed.</p><p>“Uhh… here,” Hyejoo said, awkwardly picking up a shirt off the floor and throwing it to Chaewon. “Change your clothes,”</p><p>Chaewon stripped herself, not really thinking about the consequences of doing so. “When I leave…” Hyejoo grumbled, covering her eyes with her hands. “Whaaat? We’re girlfriends, aren’t we?” Chaewon sang, feeling a bit more comfortable when she was alone with just Hyejoo.</p><p>“Yeah but… That’s… this… just please not now, Chae, keep your clothes on until I leave,”</p><p>“B-but why?”</p><p>“Chaewon. Stop,” Hyejoo warned, old feelings and fears creeping into her mind. “I’m not fucking around,” She snapped, terrified that Chaewon would try something. “I-I’m s-sorry…” Chaewon randomly bawled, tears falling down her face at a record pace. “I lied, I lied… I-I never drank before… Not once…”</p><p>Hyejoo sighed. “Yeah, I guessed that. Listen, just get dressed, I’ll be right back, I swear.”</p><p>“D-do you promise?” Chaewon sobbed, putting Hyejoo’s shirt over her half-naked frame. “I promise, Chae. I’ll be right back,” Hyejoo said, hesitantly peaking through her fingers to check if Chaewon was dressed yet. Once she saw she was she uncovered her eyes. “Stay here, don’t move”</p><p>Chaewon nodded, sniffling a bit. Hyejoo sped from the room in search of water. She walked through the crowd of people, avoiding anyone’s conversation. She went to the fridge in the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water, then walked briskly back upstairs.</p><p>She entered the room, seeing Chaewon exactly where she left her. “Here, drink this, all of this, it should help,” Hyejoo said, handing Chaewon the bottle. Chaewon opened it and took a big sip, spilling a bit down her face. Hyejoo sat down in bed next to her and helped her hold the bottle steady.</p><p>Soon Chaewon had drained the entirety of the bottle of water. Hyejoo picked her up again and took her to the bathroom. Hyejoo awkwardly kicked the toilet lid down and sat on it, putting Chaewon in her lap. She took the hand towel and doused it in warm water, dabbing off all the dried tears and makeup from Chaewon’s face.</p><p>At this point, Chaewon was half passed out, really unsure of where she was or what was happening. But she used what little consciousness she had left to hold onto Hyejoo.</p><p>Once Hyejoo had done what she could to clean Chaewon up a bit, she picked her back up and laid her under the covers, and tucked her into bed. She caressed Chaewon’s face, kissing her on the forehead, seeing that she’d completely lost consciousness and had fallen asleep.</p><p>Hyejoo grabbed a blanket off the floor and shut off the lights. She stumbled through the darkness to one of her couches, swiping all the trash off it from earlier and laying down. She’d learned to sleep through the loud chatter and music downstairs, but now that she was closer to the door it was a bit harder. She hid her face under one of the pillows she had on the couch.</p><p>The darker side of her brain awakened now that she was alone. She grumbled in annoyance at the vile thoughts that flooded her brain. Chaewon was alone in a room with her, completely incapacitated in her bed. The list of unimaginably bad things she could do to Chaewon was nearly infinite and she wanted to do all of them.</p><p>She clutched her eyes shut and did what she could to think about anything else. She liked Chaewon a lot, and the fact that she wanted to hurt her made her feel sick.</p><p>But it’d be so easy. She could do whatever she wanted. Nobody could stop her.</p><p>She wasn’t to be trusted with that kind of power.</p><p>Hyejoo sighed as she stood, walking over to the bathroom. She kept the lights off, she didn’t like looking at herself in the mirror these days. She undressed herself and slid behind the shower curtain. She stepped out of the way of the showerhead and turned the water on. Hearing the rumbling of the water on the shower floor made her feel calm, it made her feel more like herself.</p><p>Instead of cleaning all the makeup and sweat off her body, she merely sat on the shower floor, letting the water hit her back. Her worries melted away as the water beat down on her back.</p><p>She needed to get herself under control if she ever wanted to keep Chaewon in her life.</p><p>She was not under control now, and that was terrifying. What would she possibly do if she ever managed to hurt Chaewon?</p><p>xxx</p><p>Chaewon woke up, she felt her headache immediately and she just wanted to bury her face back in the pillow. But first, she had to locate Hyejoo and ask what was happening to her. “Hyejoo?”</p><p>Chaewon stood up on shaky legs, wondering why Hyejoo wasn’t in bed with her. Were she and Hyejoo at that point yet? Chaewon wondered that too.</p><p>Hyejoo laid uncomfortably on the couch, sleeping peacefully. Chaewon knelt beside Hyejoo, setting her hand on Hyejoo’s soft cheek. She listened to Hyejoo’s tiny snores of a bit before she spoke again. “Hyejoo, what happened?”</p><p>Hyejoo’s eyes fluttered open. “You lied to me about drinking and then proceeded to get shit-faced, which now that you’re sober, I can tell you this. That was not cool, don’t do that again,”</p><p>Hyejoo’s statement brought back bits and pieces of Chaewon’s memory from the previous night. “Hye… I’m sorry! I won’t do it again, that wasn’t very fun,”</p><p>“Right… Don’t worry me like that, Chae.” Hyejoo groaned, grabbing Chaewon’s hand from her face and holding it, planting a kiss on her knuckles. “I won’t, I swear…” Chaewon paused, coming to a realization. “Did you dress me?”</p><p>Hyejoo laughed, remembering Chaewon’s drunk and horny rambles from last night. “No, you dressed yourself,” Chaewon nodded. “I’m glad, I at least want a bit of dignity,”</p><p>“I wonder if my friends survived whatever they did last night,”</p><p>“I hope so,” Chaewon said, grabbing Hyejoo’s arm and pulling her up so they could go investigate. Hyejoo winced a bit when Chaewon’s hand made contact with her skin, but she tried to cover it up as quickly as she could.</p><p>Chaewon’s gaze snapped to Hyejoo’s face and then to her arm and she slowly let go. “Did you get hurt somehow?”</p><p>“Oh... I uh… I hit my arm on the corner of the counter when I was drying off last night,”</p><p>“Oh, I’m sorry, Hye. Can I look at it?”</p><p>Hyejoo’s eyes opened in shock and fear. “Umm… no,” She said nervously.</p><p>“Why not?”</p><p>“I-it doesn’t matter, I’m okay, let’s just go downstairs and eat something,”</p><p>“Now I’m suspicious, what’s going on?” Chaewon said, laughing at Hyejoo’s suddenly strange antics. “Forget it, Chaewon, I’m fine. It’s a bad cut, you shouldn’t look at it,”</p><p>“Are you hiding something from me?” Chaewon asked. “Why are you being so stubborn, I said nothing was wrong?” Hyejoo growled. “Because it’s something small, but you’re making it into a big deal, I’m good at treating injuries, if you could just SHOW ME your arm, I could help,” Chaewon said sternly, grabbing Hyejoo’s arm.</p><p>Hyejoo took a deep breath as Chaewon pulled up her sleeve. “Wh…what is that?”</p><p>“Umm… just don’t freak out,”</p><p>Chaewon stared at exactly seven clean cuts along Hyejoo’s arm. They were fresh too like they’d just been made a couple of hours ago. Chaewon squinted for a moment trying to figure out what was happening. Chaewon looked back up at Hyejoo’s scared expression. “You… you did that,” Chaewon said sadly.</p><p>Hyejoo ripped her arm out of Chaewon’s reach and covered her forearm with the sleeve of her hoodie once more. “You wouldn’t understand,” Hyejoo mumbled, nervously playing with her hair. “How so?”</p><p>“Look… just don’t ask questions, okay? I had a rough time falling asleep…”</p><p>“You don’t need to hide things from me,” Chaewon said, giving Hyejoo a reassuring smile. “I wanna help you in any way I can.”</p><p>“I do, I do need to hide things from you, and I don’t want your help either.” Hyejoo snarled, Chaewon was asking too many questions for her liking. “No, you don’t, whatever it is, I’ll understand. Those were obviously from last night, what happened last night that made you do that?”</p><p>“No, you won’t understand, nobody could. I just REALLY don’t want to talk about it, Chae,”</p><p>Chaewon squinted at Hyejoo again, wondering why she was so suddenly defensive. “Are you okay?” Chaewon asked. “What does it look like?!” Hyejoo snapped. Chaewon took a step back, raising her eyebrows. “I told you I’m trying to help,”</p><p>“I DON’T WANT YOUR HELP!” Hyejoo screamed.</p><p>Chaewon stood there absolutely stunned before tears fell down her cheeks. No matter what she did she was and would always be a delicate flower. “Oh god… Chae… I’m sorry,” Hyejoo frantically apologized, as she wrapped her arms around Chaewon. Hyejoo hid her face in Chaewon’s neck in shame. “Again, I’m really sorry, I… I didn’t mean to yell at you, I swear.”</p><p>Chaewon didn’t respond yet and just hugged Hyejoo back, clinging to the taller girl for dear life. “It’s okay, Hye…”</p><p>“Are you sure?”</p><p>Chaewon nodded. “Yes, I’m okay,” She sniffled, wetting part of Hyejoo’s hoodie with her tears. “I… I feel terrible Chaewon, please don’t cry,” Hyejoo begged. “I can’t help it, I… I don’t do well with stress and stuff,”</p><p>Hyejoo frowned. “I-I won’t do it again, I promise,” Chaewon pulled away, still holding onto Hyejoo’s arms. “Will you tell me what happened now?” Chaewon asked.</p><p>Hyejoo didn’t know what to say. She’d been clean of self-harm for months now, and suddenly she relapsed all because of the violent disturbing thoughts she had last night. She couldn’t possibly tell Chaewon any of that. She couldn’t admit it to herself either. So, she tried to think of a more viable excuse.</p><p>“Today is the anniversary of one of my best friend’s death,” Hyejoo said. She wasn’t lying about that; it truly had been two years in counting since her old companion had died. “She worked in a different unit under Hwang Yeji, but I’d see her a lot in meetups and training sessions. But two years ago, she died on a mission we were in together…”</p><p>“Oh… I’m so sorry, Hyejoo,” Chaewon said, sitting Hyejoo down. “I’m okay now, just… it got too real last night I guess,” Chaewon frowned. “Uh…” Hyejoo began, fixing her hoodie. “Do you want to go get breakfast now?”</p><p>“Yeah, I do,”</p><p>“Cool, just please don’t tell my family about this. They’re really overprotective of me, and since it was just a one-time thing, I don’t want them to worry. Okay?”</p><p>“You got it,”</p><p>xxx</p><p>Her hands shook as she sat on the floor of the shower once more. She was absolutely terrified at the thought of Chaewon figuring out what a monster she was. This morning, she normally does her job, thinking nothing of it, using vile methods to extract information from some rival gang member. Why did all this only hit now?</p><p>She felt shame that shook her to the core, not only that, but she was unable to possibly be better and change her ways. Working with Sooyoung was a matter of life or death, or honestly worse, which was living out the rest of her life in a prison or hospital. She couldn’t bear that thought.</p><p>But worst of all. She couldn’t stand the idea of Chaewon being disgusted by her actions, even if that would certainly happen one day. Any normal person with a shred of sense would know that the murder and torture of others were not the signs of a good normal person.</p><p>Chaewon however, clearly did not have much sense if she made it this far. At least, that’s what Hyejoo figured. But she knew all of this would catch up to her and that Chaewon would leave her eventually. She hoped she’d die before that could happen. She wanted her last moments to be filled with the fuzziness in her heart of love and not the deep dark despair of loneliness.</p><p>But how long could she withhold this information from Chaewon for? It was only a matter of time before the flood gates opened and she’d spill every morsel of her past, the things she saw, the things she felt, all of it. Then she’d be weak, every bit of power would be in Chaewon’s hands, and she’d be right back where she started with no control, no dignity, and no freedom.</p><p>At least that’s what her mind made her believe at this very moment as she stared at the tile wall of the shower, letting the water beat down on her back again. She was unsure of what to do, so she did what she always did and just forgot about it. Forcing herself to forget about it.</p><p>However, for once, that was not so easy. All her normal coping mechanisms were things Chaewon wouldn’t approve of. What was she supposed to do? She couldn’t bear to make herself weak by crying or talking about her feelings. That was not what she was taught to do. She wasn’t taught to be a weakling. Yet, she was one, and would always be.</p><p>She shut off the shower and dressed herself once more. She ignored the feeling of being constantly crushed by an invisible force and decided to lay down and think about literally anything else. But just as she tucked herself into bed, her cellphone rang.</p><p><em>Odd</em>, she thought it was very rare that anybody called her as her entire social circle lived inside this house. She looked at the caller ID and saw Chaewon’s name. Her heart sank and she wasn’t sure what to do. Her shaky hand went to accept the call.</p><p>“Hello?” She said, trying not to convey her obvious panic through her voice. “Oh, hi! I just wanted to see if you were feeling better over the past couple of days,”</p><p>“Oh, thanks, Chae. I…” Hyejoo paused as her heart raced, unable to decide if she should be honest. If she could be honest with anyone it’d be Chaewon. Chaewon didn’t blow things massively out of proportion, though Hyejoo’s family had a right to do so due to past events. “I don’t know… to be honest, I feel weird,”</p><p>That was a good way to describe how she felt. <em>Weird</em>.</p><p>“Oh, how so?”</p><p>“Again… I don’t know,”</p><p>“Oookay, can I help?”</p><p>“Uhh, maybe?”</p><p>Truth be told, Chaewon was already helping, just hearing Chaewon’s sweet voice made her feel safe and calm. “Well, that doesn’t really help me… I don’t know how to help when you’re vague like this,”</p><p>Hyejoo thought for a moment. “Can I… Can I come over?”</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>